Storybook Romance
by cutiechibi
Summary: UPDATE! This story will no longer be updated. It may be turned into an original story in the future.
1. Story Prologue

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Storybook Romance

By: Chibi Shi-Chan

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Summary: It was a story that Naruto loved to read for some strange reason, a story he could get lost in and forget the rest of the world with. But what happens when the story comes to life, and he's the main character of a real life storybook romance?

Pairings: Various, but it's a Sasuke and Naruto fic.

Warnings: Various warnings most likely since this is a multi-parter and I never trust my muses, but this is a yaoi fic. Also, there is some yuri in the story as well. Expect anything, seriously, but if it's anything major I'll warn you in the chapter. And if it's that bad of a chapter I'll tell you when I'm putting it up on the other page that's mentioned (and linked) in my profile.

Spoilers: Nope, it's an AU.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be a poor college student.

Notes: Sasuke, Naruto, and Gaara are sixteen and in high school in this story. Teachers like Kakashi are, of course, older, and Itachi is of course older as well.

storybook (you'll understand when you read it)

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Story Prologue

Black flames danced across the sharp steal of the blood-covered blade she held in a frighteningly tight grip. Her eyes moved over the sensual curves of the woman underneath her, the woman who was bathed in delicious honey colored locks of long blonde hair that were long enough to dip in the pool of blood snaking from the wound proudly displayed in her stomach. The wound that hurt like all kinds of hell. While she could easily heal herself from this kind of injury the shock was weakening her, and the black flame tipped dagger had burned her skin terribly. Sky blue eyes began to grow dull, began to rust and become blank from the pain they felt and fire colored tails laid perfectly still in fear, the matching fox ears twitching in nervousness.

Millions of questions swam through the victim's head.

Why? Why would her once upon a time best friend hurt her like this? Why did she stab her, stab her with that black flame covered knife and just sit there and watch the blood soak her hair, her body, the cloud colored sheets she was lying in? Why?

"Because, I love you." The dark haired woman moved the knife over the body of the one she loved more than anything in this world, watched her shiver from the coldness of the blade and stare at her in a terrifying sort of fear. She leaned closer, the black waves of hair sneaking over her shoulder and tickling the now whimpering woman underneath her as she stole a kiss, tasted the sweet flavor of powdered sugar and strawberries, tasted the warm sunlight and basked in it. "Because, he doesn't deserve you." Normal pitch black eyes were now morphing, morphing into unforgiving bloodlust orbs. The blonde tried to move away but the wound in her stomach didn't allow her to. Instead she made the mistake of looking into those eyes, eyes that swirled in her mind and poked around, abused, raped. "But, you love him. You love him and not me."

"St-stop... stop it, please."

"But I will have you." A thin trail of blood was delicately licked away from sinfully delectable lips. Lips she had made the mistake of tasting and falling in love with so many months ago. Lips she could never have because of that... that **monster **who sunk its claws into the woman she loved before she even got a chance to tell her. "He cannot have you, my precious..." her eyes seemed to flare to life, three dots of black flames in each orb swirling madly and dizzying the poor woman underneath her who wanted nothing more than to escape this hell. "... Kyubi."

"UCHIHA-SAN!"

Tap. Tap Tap Tap. Sky blue eyes blinked out of the spell they were put under from reading. The story was so captivating that every time those bright, beautiful Saturday morning eyes began to read each word they became hypnotized and wanted nothing more than to continue reading.

Uzumaki Naruto, now sixteen years old as of today, was never a really big fan of reading stories like these. Stories like these made him want to skip to the fighting he knew would come. The fantasy aspect drew him in of course, seeing since fantasy novels were his favorite if there were no new manga out. But he could do without all the romance, it would usually make him gag... except in this case. For some reason the love story part in this book didn't bug him, it only made the story better.

TAP! TAP TAP TAP!

"O.K. O.K. JEEZ!" Finally setting down his beloved book Naruto slipped out of bed and headed to his window, sliding it open. "You are so impatient."

"No, you're just slow." Uchiha Sasuke. Armed with rocks used to hit the window of one Uzumaki Naruto. Also sixteen years old but beating Naruto by a few months. The local teenage hottie in their area and high school and the only boy who could make their boring school uniforms look good. Since it was the middle of the night however the school uniform was ditched for a black hoodie and baggie pants that had so many zippers on them that Sasuke could've robbed a bank and stored all the money in his pants alone.

"Say that again and you aren't coming up here."

"Aw, after the nice gift I had got you for your birthday?" Naruto smiled a bit at that, running his fingers through deadly spikes of honey colored sunshine called hair a bit sheepishly.

"I was reading it, you know?"

"Again?" Sasuke had already started climbing the tree that lead to Naruto's window. He could do it with his eyes closed with no arms and legs by now since he had done it so many times. "Didn't you read that damn story enough in the bookstore?"

"Nope." Naruto stepped back so Sasuke could slip in but only ended up crying out softly in surprise, mindful that his guardian was sound asleep, when Sasuke reached out and grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards the window. "What? You have to get in, baka."

"I know." Sasuke pulled Naruto so that he was leaning out the window and gave him the softest of kisses that only promised more when he got inside his lover's bedroom. "I just missed your lips, that's all."

"Sasuke, we've only been apart for about an hour. You went home to change."

"So?" Sasuke finally decided to slip into the bedroom that was just as much as his as it was Naruto's. "I can't miss kissing my boyfriend? I'm hurt."

"No you're not." Naruto made a face at Sasuke, something along the lines of sticking his tongue out and shutting his eyes tightly. "You're just horny."

"You must be too. You're only wearing a T-shirt and nothing else."

"I'll have you know I sleep like this!"

"Oh really?" Sasuke walked up to him and wrapped an arm around the slender waist of his lover, pulling Naruto tightly against him. His other hand made a naughty trip under the back of Naruto's shirt and moved over his ass, causing Naruto to playfully glare at Sasuke who only grinned in response. "You always sleep with no underwear on under your nightshirts?"

"Fine fine, you win. I was waiting for you." Naruto stood on his toes a bit to place a kiss on Sasuke's lips, draping both of his arms around his shoulders and already melting from the taste of the blueberry flavor on those red white and blue Popsicles, only with Sasuke's own unique spice tingling his lips. It was the only way Naruto could possibly try and describe Sasuke's kisses and the dizzying feeling they gave him. Both of Sasuke's arms were around Naruto's waist now, holding him close and warming his body from the night's chill that decided to sneak into the room.

Powdered sugar... and strawberries... Sasuke sunk his tongue deep into the taste of Naruto's mouth and held him tighter. His boyfriend's taste was damn addicting, he was constantly telling Naruto that it was a taste that was probably worth killing for and that only made Naruto blush and tell Sasuke to shut-up.

Sasuke and Naruto. There was a definite chemistry that had attracted one to the other. Rivals since merry-go-rounds and swing sets, finally friends when playgrounds in school were over and lovers when girls drooled over an older, high school freshman aged Sasuke that found himself interested in spiky haired bakas in baggy sweat pants and not pretty pink haired princesses in cherry red dresses. Kissing wasn't as awkward as either boy thought it would be, in fact kissing a member of the same sex had made both of their hearts burst out of their chests in excitement and passion.

Or maybe it was the fact that they were kissing each other.

Neither had ever done anything with anyone before, but that one kiss two years ago had somehow made them frantic experts in the art of foreplay and soon they had graduated into having sex. The challenge though was turning sex into love making, and that breakthrough had happened just recently on a totally cliche dark and stormy night.

A night that was going to repeat itself very soon as Naruto felt himself being guided back towards his bed. A few more steps found him lying back against his dangerously comfortable mattress decorated in the cool gray colors of his sheets and comforter. Sasuke had practically begged him to remove the blindingly bright colors that use to be on his bed, something about how wrong it was to do something so pleasurable as enjoying the sounds Naruto made when touched in all the right places to bright orange and yellow. Seeing Naruto wear it was one thing, because he could simply remove it behind closed doors to get to the peach creamy inside known as skin, but to have to see it during intercourse just killed the mood.

At least that was his excuse, truthfully a tornado could probably hit and Sasuke would still be in the mood.

There lips were never separated for long, only to take required breaths but nothing more. Talking at the moment was overrated, any comments of _I love you_ or _Happy Birthday, Naruto_ could be and would be saved for when the moment was actually over. Clothes became a long forgotten memory along with the book Naruto thought to be so precious before Sasuke had made an appearance. It was kicked out of the bed by Sasuke's foot and went completely unnoticed by Naruto since he had lips being permanently fastened to his neck. It had found a place on the floor with the clothes, innocently resting there and enjoying the cool breeze that had once against snuck into the room. The two bodies in the bed were now protected by the warm comforter, very noticeable movements going on underneath said comforter that had caused Sasuke to cover Naruto mouth with his hand to keep him quiet. Naruto was never a quiet person which was a definite bonus during sex, but at the moment they didn't want to wake up the house's other occupant who would have a heart attack seeing his precious "son" in bed the way he was... even if he already knew that his precious "son" had a boyfriend who made it a point to have him in bed crying out his name at least once a day.

The muffled cries and the wind had made the book on the ground decide to turn its pages. With the help of the wind's fingers the book was turned to just the right page while the two boys experienced one of the many great ways to have sex: Happy Birthday sex.

Arms were very carefully wrapped around Kyubi's body, holding her close and frantically trying to find something to cover the wound with. At the same time though Kyubi could feel the absolute anger mixed with anguish coming from the one she loved. He finally made it to her, she knew he would. Messy red hair tied back in a quick ponytail and eyes that were bordering on the line of insanity, he was known as the monster of the sands but only Kyubi called him anything but that cruel name.

Shukaku wasn't a monster.

At least... not yet he wasn't.

Because she could feel grains of sand dripping onto her wound, closing it. He was trying to hurry and heal her so he could go. Go and get who did this. Go and make them pay.

There was something else in the wind tonight. Something else that danced across the pages of Naruto's book.

"Uchiha..." His voice... his voice was now a mix between a hiss and a growl, both spelling absolute hate. Kyubi tried to find her voice, tried to tell him not to go but she was so tired after everything that had happened. His eyes... Shukaku's eyes were a frightening yellow surrounded by black, burning for blood and revenge.

Uchiha... the woman would pay. Her entire clan would pay. No, that wasn't enough. Everyone... everyone would pay. He would present the blood of every fucking person alive to his precious Kyubi, to heal her wounded body and soul from what happened to her.

Sand. Tiny grains of sand. Too small to see unless if you were really paying attention to the area around you, and at the moment neither Sasuke or Naruto were paying attention. They were too consumed in each other to care...

Everyone would suffer. Uchiha...

... would pay.

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Author's Comments: Confused yet? Good. Well... unless if you understand it already, then yay you understand it already! As much as I would love to explain what's going on, it would take away from the story. So, I just hope you all continue to read to find out what happens next. Hope you enjoyed the little prologue/teaser, the real story begins in Chapter One.

And yes, the Popsicle that Naruto said Sasuke tastes like is a bomb pop, which I use to love to death. The blue part was my favorite, so that's what Sasuke tastes like... only... with his own unique spice added to it. Damn, I want a bomb pop now. Was bomb pop even the official name of that Popsicle?

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	2. Chapter One

_Storybook Romance_

By: Chibi Shi-Chan

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Author's Comments: My gods, people like this story. Yay! Thank you everyone for your reviews (I'm too lazy to answer individually, I know, that's bad). Um... let's see... this chapter is where the story really begins, the last chapter was just a little teaser. Not too many people were confused (yay) but just wanted to know what was going on. I think someone figured it out, can't remember. And to answer someone's question, no Sasuke and Naruto are not going to turn into girls. The yuri in the fic, there isn't much but it is an important part, this is mainly a yaoi fic. There is, well apparently from the prologue there is some het, but it's not much and again it's important to the story. That ends the rant, now for the first chapter!

_storybook _

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_**Chapter One**_

Uchiha Sasuke had a secret. Not just any ordinary "don't tell my parents" secret, but an "if you tell anyone this secret I will be sure you experience something worse than death" secret. A secret that not only could ruin his reputation, but **would **ruin his reputation, crush it like a giant robotic foot on a candy apple red sports car.

Only the now sixteen year old as of two minutes and twenty-three seconds past midnight last night Uzumaki Naruto knew the deadly secret Uchiha Sasuke possessed.

Sasuke snuggled closer to Naruto and draped his arms around him to pull him closer, making his very own life-sized human pillow. Naruto allowed himself to be pulled into Sasuke's arms as he just continued to read his book and wait for his lover to wake up.

Uchiha Sasuke... was a huge cuddler when he slept.

It was a secret Naruto discovered the very first time the two of them had slept together. Sasuke had a tendency to curl up, snuggle up, cuddle up to anything he was sleeping next to be it pillow, stuffed animal, or boyfriend. It was the cutest thing Naruto had ever seen... and he already knew that if he told a soul his body would explode from the sheer magnitude of Sasuke's glare. So Naruto kept it to himself and locked it in the vault of things Sasuke did cute... like when he'd get ice cream on his nose and Naruto wouldn't tell him just so he'd have an icy cold chocolate cream smear on that perfect face all day.

Smiling to himself Naruto went back to reading his book. He had started over from the beginning a while ago since he had finished the rest when he had woke up. It was so strange, constantly reading the same story over and over again to the point of waking up early just to finish it and start all over again. But he loved it so much! He couldn't explain why but he did.

He loved the characters: the fox demon, Kyubi. A beautiful blonde with the most natural looking fox ears and nine-tails that she would've looked strange without them. Eyes the color of a clear icy blue sky and skin made up of caramel peaches, she was a very enchanting demon who didn't even realize how truly magnificent she was. A creature that could dance and bathe in fire and manipulate it anyway she wanted to, but a creature known for her lack of control especially when her powers had a tendency to explode due to her emotions. When this happened the fire would surround the blue of her eyes and make them an angry flame colored red.

The sand demon, Shukaku. Handsome and dangerously sexy with blood red hair that was always tied back in a messy ponytail and piercing eyes of green surrounded by dark circles from lack of sleep. His skin was the color of pale sand, the type found on a beach on one of those perfect weather days when it wasn't too hot or too cold. The demon that was known as monster more often then he was known as Shukaku, everyone feared him and the sand walls of death that he could summon upon you if he thought you looked at him the wrong way. Not only that but he could never be hurt. His sand would wrap around him in a mother's embrace and protect him from any harmful attack, making it impossible to even through a rock at him. In simpler terms he was what those who feared him called an indestructible beast.

But Shukaku was simply one of those monsters who was misunderstood, and only Kyubi knew that.

Both of them were similar in every way, their gender being the only difference between them. Two beautiful creatures who were feared because of their power, and therefore neither of them ever had a single friend besides each other. As they grew up together from childhood towards the doors of adulthood both learned things about how friendship could blossom into love. How kissing could be just as fun as playing on the old swing tied to the tree as children. And how it didn't take an expert to figure out the proper way to make love with the person you held close to your heart. There was no real instruction manual, such a beautiful art couldn't be told how to do but experienced. They both blushed, kissed, giggled, touched, trembled, expressed uncertainties and fears, exchanged words of love and compassion. No matter how many times they took the physical approach of expressing love it always felt new and there was something to be learned. Shukaku learned the first time to hold her close, the second time he learned to never separate his lips from hers, the third time he learned that petting a fox demon had them eternally gratefully and praising your name, the list went on and on.

It was a beautiful love story that wasn't just a love story, there were too many words to describe it. It captured Naruto's heart the first time he even picked up the book. It started as a joke, really. One of the characters in the story had Sasuke's last name and was only known as Uchiha. So Naruto would read the book in the bookstore all the time just to piss Sasuke off by going on and on about how he was in the story because the woman had his name.

She was quite an interesting character in the story. A member of a well-known clan of humans who were part of the few groups who actually respected and perhaps even worshipped Shukaku and Kyubi instead of feared them. Maybe they showed respect because their own clan name caused fear to enter the hearts of those they hunted and killed if necessary. Very powerful, the type of humans you'd hear someone ask, "What are you? You can't be human, what are you?" But they were human, very human, just very powerful and very unique in the trait they carried that made them so terrifying.

Sharingan.

Blood red eyes that contained swirls of black flames. With these eyes they could watch and learn a person's abilities as if they possessed the ability themselves. As the eyes became more advanced more tricks could be learned and morphed into their own style. But one trick, one trick was the deadliest trick of all and could crush a person's very soul. An Uchiha that was advanced enough could manipulate your mind and make you see anything they wanted you to see for several tortured hours. This could cause a person to become completely comatose, could cause the most powerful leader to go insane. It was that one thing you heard about that was always, **always**, worse than death.

The Uchiha woman, only known as Uchiha-san in the story, was a close friend of Kyubi. An un-human like beauty caressed the woman's body with her long waves of painted black silk that couldn't even be called hair because hair never felt that soft to the touch. Eyes the color of midnight that could be covered in blood on command, Uchiha-san was a master of the sharingan eyes and was known to show the most terrifying things with them. She was a bit taller than Kyubi, the perfect height for that storybook romance of scooping the woman in her arms and leaning down to kiss lips that certainly did not hold true to the fearsome image other humans painted the fox demon in.

Uchiha-san had fallen madly in love with Kyubi but it was too late, her heart had belonged to Shukaku ever since childhood.

The story soon went from being a joke on Sasuke to Naruto actually liking it, liking it so much that every time he was near the bookstore in the mall he'd go inside and just sit down and read it. There was always a copy of the book available for him to read, most likely because it was one of the books that was buried beneath the best sellers that Naruto always avoided. Those books always intimidated him. It was like the rest of the world expected you to like it and worship it and if you didn't you'd get the wide eyes and the, "How could you not love this story?" He hated being told what was good for him because it was a big let down if it wasn't.

For some reason no matter how much he loved the story he never actually bought the book, never owned a copy of it until Sasuke gave it to him as an early birthday present. Maybe he didn't have the money that day, maybe it was a subconscious excuse to get out the house and do something besides sit in the back of the class and play the part of class clown. Only a select few people knew the secret of Uzumaki Naruto having a brain that he could use very well if he felt like it. It was just fun pulling pranks and pissing people off then taking them completely by surprise when he showed another emotion besides stupidity.

Sasuke knew that his boyfriend was certainly the opposite of stupid, just him and a few others knew. It was just that Naruto preferred being a happy, lighthearted and constantly smiling teenager and the one to always smile in any situation. What was the point of being sad or angry over things when you could smile and try your best to make the bad things better. It took a long ass time for him to develop that attitude and he was quite proud of himself for being able to go through what others would certainly call hell and still be able to laugh it off.

"Naruto! Breakfast!" Naruto sniffed the air and his stomach sang happily from the teasing smell of brown sugar flavored oatmeal. Oatmeal? Naruto grinned, his guardian had his boyfriend over last night and was, as usual, worn out. A term that Naruto didn't understand until that first night with Sasuke, a term that Naruto was happily experiencing after last night.

"Coming!"

"Tell Sasuke there's enough for him." Yep, there was the voice of said guardian wearer outer. Naruto giggled and closed his eyes, already picturing the scene in the kitchen in his head.

Naruto was the sole survivor of a horrible fire that happened when he was two years old. All he remembered from that day was a man he liked to think was his father, he couldn't remember, getting him to safety and telling him not to move. He'd be right back. He was going to get mommy.

Neither one ever came back.

The fire spread, spread very fast and refused to be stopped. It was one of those fires that everyone who was outside of it just watched in awe. Firemen lost that day, they couldn't stop it either. The fire didn't stop until the heavens began to cry and shed rain down onto the earth, pleading with the indestructible flames to stop and whispered how they had done enough. Anything and everything Uzumaki was destroyed, everything but Naruto. All he had that even showed he was even in the fire were two strange things: whisker like markings on his cheeks and a very strange mark on his stomach that was made up of weird looking swirls.

Naruto had no idea where the marks came from but he was pretty sure that it didn't come from the fire since he couldn't remember feeling anything burn him. Even so, marks like that were too damn strange to be burn marks. But whatever fireman or policeman or adoption guy genius it was who saw him chalked it up as it being the fire's fault when he very well could've had them all his life.

He was only two, how was he supposed to know? And by them calling those marks part of the fire he was called a miracle for surviving something so horrible. And from that day on Naruto learned to hate that word. Miracle? A miracle that his entire family and anyone in the area was burned to death? Screw miracles.

Going place to place was hell. Hearing the stories about how this kid was _that _kid, the one who lived, was hell. Everything was hell...

... until finally someone taught him how to smile again. Taught him the very attitude Naruto held today.

Iruka.

A man who was average height for his age, Iruka taught at the high school Naruto attended now. Cocoa brown sugar colored hair that was always tied back in a messy ponytail and a scar across the bridge of his nose that was oddly very cute on him. The man was always smiling and it was absolutely contagious. So eventually Naruto started to smile too after three years of frowning... and now he couldn't stop. But as Naruto grew up he learned something else...

... Iruka always blushed. All. The. Time.

Especially when his boyfriend was over.

Kakashi and Iruka had been dating for... well... ever. As far back as Naruto could remember there was always a Kakashi somewhere in the picture. He couldn't remember exactly when they started to officially date, or when they officially said they loved each other, he just knew that the gray haired man was always around. Kakashi was another teacher at the high school, in fact it was kinda funny because he was one of his teachers now. Kakashi was the exact opposite of Iruka. Iruka was very soft spoken and, as said before, blushed a lot whenever he was complimented or well... anytime Kakashi was in the room with him. Iruka also wasn't a lazy ass like Kakashi was. Kakashi was always late, always sounded bored, always looked like he didn't want to be there and was always reading a book that was nowhere near suitable for hormonal high school teenagers. But at the same time Kakashi was one of those people who, when they got serious, you damn well better pay attention. He was the type that even if he sounded bored he really wasn't, he was well aware of what was going on around him and always had something useful to say.

But at the moment... at the moment Naruto knew they were both in the kitchen, Kakashi sitting down and reading his book and Iruka blushing over what Kakashi just said about Sasuke being there.

Iruka was also one of those parents who was in deep denial about their child being in a relationship. Of course Naruto being with Sasuke didn't matter, Iruka himself was with another man. The denial part came in whenever Kakashi made a comment about Sasuke still being up there, having spent the night with Naruto meaning the two of them had been quite busy. Iruka was still in the, "My precious Naruto would **never **do that," stage while Kakashi was in the, "Sasuke and Naruto are going at it like rabbits and enjoying it," stage. Then they'd argue about Kakashi saying something like that and Kakashi would say something about them being the same way when they were sixteen and Iruka would shut up and blush.

Apparently the two of them had known each other for a long time, but at the age of sixteen they weren't really together they were just... sleeping together. Not too much of a shock, looking at Kakashi who wouldn't want to sleep with him? It was later in life when they finally made it an official relationship and not a shaky, "We're not together really so I can sleep with other people," type relationship. When Iruka started to get jealous about Kakashi with other people, which took him a hell of a long time to admit to, was when the official title began to take shape. And now they loved each other to death... even if Kakashi still acted like he was sixteen.

"Sasuke isn't up there, Kakashi. You know Naruto doesn't..."

"... uh-huh." Kakashi was really glad he wasn't a parent, even if Naruto teasingly called him Kakashi-tousan, but that amount of denial had to be unhealthy.

"Sasuke says thanks for breakfast!" Naruto shouted from his room and just knew, just _knew _that Iruka's face was red and Kakashi was wearing a smug look behind his ever-present book.

"That was evil." Sasuke muttered, finally deciding that he could sit up and let Naruto go so he could stretch and attempt to apply that pesky waking up thing. "You and Kakashi like giving Iruka-sensei heart attacks." Even outside the classroom Sasuke called him that.

"But it's fun!" Sasuke just gave Naruto a half-hearted, still full of sleep glare because there was no way in hell someone should be smiling brighter then the sun this early in the morning. "Awww, don't give me that look... snuggly..."

"What did you say?"

"Snuuuuuuggly." Naruto cried out and if possible that smile got brighter when Sasuke decided to do something about that god awful nickname Naruto teased him with because he was a... cuddler... that was still hard to admit to. Naruto was now pinned down to his bed and dying from uncontrollable fits of laughter as Sasuke tickled him mercilessly, his book dropped to the ground in an attempt to stop the evil morning tickler but his attempts were all in vain. "O.K.! O.K. O.K.! Stop it! Stop it I get it!" Sasuke pulled his hands back. "Snuggly snuggly snuggl-ACK! SASUKE!" Then said hands returned to tickling Naruto senseless. By now both boys were laughing, because Naruto's smiles and laughs were too damn infectious and always broke down Sasuke's, "I'm so pissy," walls. At first Sasuke tried damn hard to fight it, but being around someone who laughed so much for so long proved to be too much for the pissy one and it was decided in his own head that he could fall in front of Naruto... just not at school. But even that was getting hard to do but it was getting to the point of him not giving a shit because a beautiful smile like that was meant to be enjoyed.

Sasuke finally pulled his hands back to look at the finished product. Naruto was lying back in the bed trying to catch his breath from all his laughing, but a small chuckle would leave his lips every now and then. He slowly opened his eyes to look up at Sasuke, all the happiness in the world displayed proudly for him to drink in.

Damn, Sasuke found himself smiling again.

"I wonder what others would think if they found out you smiled this much."

"I only smile this much because of you." Sasuke leaned down and rested his forehead against Naruto's, brushing his lips very softly with his own. "It's your damn fault."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Naruto's voice had gotten softer like it always did when Sasuke was in kissing distance, but it still held the sarcasm he wanted it to for that fake apology. "What can I ever do to get you to stop smiling so much?"

"Absolutely nothing." Their lips met in a birthday morning kiss even if they shared one when Sasuke came over last night. Just to be cute he came at 12:02 a.m. on the dot, making sure he picked up that rock and tossed it at Naruto's window exactly 23 seconds after it hit two minutes past midnight. That was just the type of person Sasuke was and it use to drive Naruto crazy, it still kinda did sometimes, but with sweet things like coming over at the exact hour your boyfriend was born Naruto could let it slide. Their lips were sweetly pressed against each other, the kind of kiss that sped Naruto's heart the most because of how slow, sweet, and absolutely sensual it was. A kiss that let you feel just how much someone loved you without using words. A kiss that showed that words weren't always needed, they were nice, but they weren't the only way to express emotions. There was also the hand Sasuke trailed up Naruto's arm very slowly, just as slowly as he was kissing him, until it reached his lover's hand so he could hold onto it. Naruto trembled underneath him, the softest sounds of love and pleasure being delicately tasted by Sasuke's lips.

"Naruto! Get down here, you still have to go to school!" The two broke apart and couldn't help but smile at each other. Staying silent for just a few more seconds Sasuke leaned in to attempt to kiss Naruto again. "Sasuke! Don't even think about it!" Yep, Iruka-sensei had been through this routine enough to know what was going on even if he was down in the kitchen. Taking the hint that he was beaten Sasuke slid off of Naruto to let him up.

"Don't worry. There's still the janitor's closet in between classes." Sasuke grinned at Naruto's idea as the boy got out of bed to get his uniform. Without even looking back at Sasuke, Naruto tossed him an extra school uniform that was left for such occasions as the boy coming over and spending the night. That extra uniform was getting more attention then the ones Sasuke had at home. Both of the boys had left their books at school, it was a silent agreement that when Sasuke wanted to spend the night they'd use study hall to do work and not make-out. There would be no late night paper writing or Sasuke waking up extra early the next day to go and get his schoolbooks from home. "I'm going to take a shower."

"Can I join you?"

"No!" Naruto giggled when they both heard Iruka scream out the response.

"I was just making sure you were listening, Iruka-sensei!" Sasuke laid back in the bed and waited for Naruto to take his shower so he could take his own. He looked over to see the book still lying on the ground and he just stared at it for a moment before giving in and picking it up. Not like he had anything else to do, and he himself had never actually read the story but he knew it like the back of his hand since Naruto was constantly talking about it. Opening it he drew his hand back and immediately dropped the book when he felt something cut into his finger.

Paper cut?

Sasuke examined his now bleeding finger and blinked in surprise when out of all things he saw a grain of sand resting against his cut. Was that what cut him?

Sand?

* * *

"Happy birthday, Naruto-kun."

"Oh." Naruto turned from his locker to see one of his closest friends smiling shyly up at him. A sweet girl who was more soft spoken than Iruka and who was always blushing when she was around Naruto. It was rumored that she use to have a crush on him until the other rumor started about him being with Sasuke. She never admitted to liking Naruto as more than a friend, and Naruto didn't know if she ever did like him but he knew that he enjoyed her friendship very much. "Thank you, Hinata." He blinked in surprise when she thrusted a package into his arms and lowered her head, not looking at him anymore.

"I... hope you like it..."

"Oh wow. You didn't have to get me-AH!" Naruto had opened the package and stared at the object in his hands. It was the newest dvd to his favorite anime series, this thing had just come out today and he was going to stare inside of the video store and just drool over the cover and episode descriptions but now it was his. "Oh my god! Oh my god I can't believe you got this for me!"

"Well... you said you liked the series..." Big, clear colored eyes that seemed like mirrors widened when Hinata found herself being glomped by one happy birthday boy. Was it possible for someone's face to overheat and become completely red?

"Thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU!"

"You... you're welcome..." And all too soon he let her go and walked down the hallway to get to class, singing horribly off key about how he was finally going to find out if the best friends and possible love interests really did fight to the death or not. Hinata just watched him with the softest of smiles on her face.

It always made her happy to see him so happy.

The horrible singing made its way to the first class of the day where Naruto sat, still happily singing over his new dvd. He was so happy about it that he hadn't realized he had brought it into class, not until it was snatched away.

"Hey! Give it back!"

"Hm... best friends forced to fight to the death because one is on a quest for power. Will he really kill him... or will their feelings blossom into something more?" The dvd was handed back to Naruto. "How troublesome."

"You always say that about everything!" He got no response. "Shikamaru!"

"You yell too much." Shikamaru, if possible, was labeled as being even lazier than Naruto was. And if Kakashi looked bored all the time this kid gave a whole new meaning to being bored. At times he'd go so far as to be asleep in the middle of class and not even care how loudly he was snoring. But just like Kakashi there was something much more to the boy, in fact if he wanted to Shikamaru could teach the class. "And here, happy birthday."

"You got me something?" Shikamaru shrugged and handed Naruto a very poorly wrapped package that could already be seen as a cd Naruto had wanted. "Oh wow, thanks!"

"Whatever." Naruto sweatdropped and just watched the other students walk into the classroom. Sasuke was, of course, running late because of his little fan club. Well, little was an understatement, but Naruto didn't want to blow things out of proportion even if in this case he could. Entering the classroom was the upperclassman, Lee, who was a student teacher for their professor this period. And yep, entering with him was Gai-sensei, the man Lee respected and worshipped more than anybody could worship any god. It was surprising that Gai even got to class on time seeing since he'd spend the time before class arguing with Kakashi over something. Who could drink their coffee the fastest, who graded the papers the fastest, old school rivals all the way to adulthood. Naruto waved to Lee who nodded in response, the two of them were kind of friends, friends enough for Lee to hand Naruto a birthday card and say happy birthday to him. Hinata entered a few seconds later after making sure her blush was gone and sat in her seat, the seat that allowed her to watch Naruto and just smile at him.

Other students began to file in faster now since class was close to starting. The names Naruto remembered were Kiba, who he liked to talk to after school so he could play with his dog. Shino, who kinda creeped a few people out with his fascination with, out of all things, bugs. Chouji, who Naruto always went to so he could get good food for lunch and not the cafeteria hell... if Chouji was willing to part with it.

Neji, another upperclassman who was in the class to observe it a lot like Lee did. Neji was... well... Naruto didn't want to try and explain him simply because he couldn't. Hinata lifted her head up when Neji entered, his eyes mirroring her own, and they said nothing to each other.

Rumor had it that they didn't like each other very much, family be damned.

Ten-Ten, the last upperclassman who observed the classroom along with Neji and Lee. The only girl in the team of students who were picked to sit in Gai-sensei's class as student teachers. While in most cases a professor had only one student teacher Gai, in an attempt to once again out do Kakashi since he had one measly student teacher, proclaimed that he could handle three. Student teachers however were more difficult than the students themselves. Students only asked questions pertaining to class, the student teachers asked questions pertaining to the teacher himself. But Gai would never lose to Kakashi, at least that's what he said, so it wasn't just Lee but Neji, and Ten-Ten too.

Other students entered and the bell was dangerously close to ringing when Sasuke waltzed in, taking his seat which was just like Hinata's seat: in a good spot to be able to watch Naruto. It was Hinata who shyly suggested he sit there and when he saw why he actually ended up blushing a bit when his eyes landed on that damn smile Naruto wore that drove his heart nuts. Behind him two girls struggled to get in, fighting and shoving each other away to try and race inside and sit next to Sasuke first.

Believe it or not the two girls were best friends and it was rumored that they were actually in love with each other. Or was it, Ino liked Shikamaru and Sakura was starting to tolerate Lee who openly had a crush on her... high school rumors were confusing. Even so, it was no rumor that both of them liked Sasuke, be it because they really liked him or needed something to fight over was the question. With one last shove Sakura managed to stumble inside and race over to the empty chair closest to Sasuke but was brought to a screeching halt when Ino grabbed a fistful of bubblegum pink and yanked her friend back by her now short strands of hair. She had cut it not too long ago and actually looked better with short hair while Ino kept hers pulled back in a long cotton candy yellow ponytail. Sakura gave a yelp of protest before she sank glittering hot pink nails into her rival's arm and earned a scream of protest.

It was a daily routine that everyone in the class had grown accustomed to.

Eventually Sakura came out on top, her nails proving too much for Ino's arm, and triumphantly sat next to Sasuke. Despite rumors of Sasuke and Naruto being quite hot and heavy for quite sometime no woman in her right mind wanted to believe it, except Hinata who was too sweet for words. So with a quick hair comb with the fingers and deep breath for self-confidence Sakura made her move.

"Good morning." Two words that she had practiced saying all morning in the mirror. And her reward?

"Morning." She mentally cheered over Sasuke speaking to her... too bad his eyes were on Naruto who was busy laughing over the card Lee had gotten him for his birthday, Lee looking absolutely proud of himself for getting the perfect card and getting a thumbs up from his beloved Gai-sensei.

Just as the bell decided to finally ring and let the school day technically begin one more student entered the classroom, staying by the door. Gai glanced over and nodded his head, showing off his perfectly Mentos white sparkling teeth.

"Right on time." Gai turned his attention back to his students who were already doing the new student initiation of looking over the new kid and mentally approving or disapproving of him. "Class, I'd like you all to meet a new student."

Cool mint green eyes traveled around the classroom, doing the opposite of the new student nervousness and just settling for being calm and taking in the new surroundings. It looked like an ordinary classroom. School desks where everyone sat, the teacher's the biggest. School clock that taunted the amount of minutes left until class was over. School door that had two full-time jobs of being an entrance and exit for eager students who wanted to learn or leave and for overworked and underpaid teachers. School window that silently laughed at the suffering children and did the cruelest thing of all: show the outside world.

Nothing of interest in the room, nothing out of the ordinary, just another school that...

Naruto blinked when his eyes locked right on target with the new kid's eyes. He was telling himself to get his eyes away from the leaf green fields but for some reason, for some damn reason his eyes just wanted to stay focused on that one area. What did the boy look like? What color was his hair? What color was his skin? Naruto couldn't answer any of those things, not now, because those eyes had pulled him in and...

_... held her hostage. But she didn't want to escape. This creature in front of her, her best friend for... gods however long it was. She remembered old swings and beautiful gardens, running around with him and playing, enjoying the only friend she had ever had. But now... _

Naruto's eyes widened and he seemed to be frozen to his chair. The story? Why was he remembering... why was he even thinking about... it didn't make any sense. How could this person...

_... make her think this way? Feel this way? Her heartbeat became loud enough to make her deaf as he leaned in closer. Was this really about to happen. Was he really..._

"... about to..." Shikamaru glanced over at Naruto in question. What was he mumbling about? And why was he staring at that boy like that? "... kiss..." Shikamaru rose his eyebrow in the air. Kiss? What in the world was wrong with Naruto and what was with the spaced out look on his face? Waving a hand in front of his friend's face Shikamaru tried to snap Naruto out of whatever trance he was in but it didn't work. Instead Naruto spoke a name very softly, but Shikamaru still heard it.

_"Shukaku."_

"Everyone. This is Gaara."

_**

* * *

**_

_**End Chapter One**_

Author's Comments: Wow this chapter did have a lot of um... I guess explaining stuff. I didn't expect that. And it looks like the other Leaf ninjas in the series have showed up, which I also didn't expect. I think they'll show up more in the story. This is what happens when you finally catch up with the Naruto series... for the most part... and start to fall in love with more of the characters. They're all pretty much the same as they are in the series since well... I like them that way. The next chapter... um... I'm not sure at all since I have no plan for this fic. Probably more fun story flashes or... something... we'll see.

See you all next chapter!


	3. Chapter Two

_Storybook Romance_

By: _Chibi Shi-Chan_

Author's Comments: Once again I have to thank everyone for your positive feedback of the story. Now it's time for the story to start to make sense... um... maybe. Probably not. Um anyhow, some Sasuke and Naruto goodness in this chapter but not enough to not put any of this chapter up on , it's still R. In fact this might actually stay with the R rating... yeah I say that now but I never trust my muses.

Anyhow, enjoy the next part. Also, some Gaara and Naruto begins to show its face. And sorry this took so long, real life was taking over but I finally found some freedom from it for a short period of time!

_storybook _

_**

* * *

**_

_**Chapter Two**_

The janitor's closet.

Not a very exciting or comfortable place. The janitor certainly didn't think so. He'd just sit his ratty old mop that he swore the school purchased the hundreds of years ago it was built inside when he was finished using it. The matching crust covered bucket would join the mop, occasionally an equally old push broom would make its appearance inside the closet. Maybe a couple of paper towels, the icky kind that did more harm to your hands than good, the kind that only high schools possessed. All and all the janitor hated the closet and never visited it unless if he absolutely had to. Why would he want to? It was in such a lonely location, the area of the school you would just glance down but never actually walk down. That hallway that was built specifically for that one closet, no classroom or bathroom just that lone closet. No one paid attention to the janitor's closet, hell the janitor never paid attention to the closet named after him unless if it was a life or death situation.

"Sa-Sasuke..." Which was why it was the perfect place to make-out.

It had been after one particular day in class where for some strange reason Naruto looked really, really scrumptious. Maybe it had been the sunlight that played in his hair while he took notes, maybe the trace of shower water caressing his neck, maybe it had been because he was Uzumaki Naruto but whatever it was Sasuke had wanted to at least steal a kiss. Naruto's locker had that odd location that was relatively close to said closet but at first Sasuke toyed with the idea of sneaking into the boys bathroom. However on the way there they had passed **that **hallway with **that **closet.

And so Sasuke and Naruto's in-between class make-out spot was born.

"Naruto." The position they were in was rather uncomfortable. They were both standing, the closet gave you no other choice but to stand. Naruto was receiving an unwelcome massage with the push broom resting against his spine so every time he moved it would roughly scratch his back. Sasuke's foot had found a home inside of the bucket that was thankfully empty of the unattractive color of mop water. Still, the smell of Pine Sol wrapped around the both of them, mostly Sasuke since the mop decided to fall over and treat his hair like the mop bucket.

But why would they be complaining about the nonexistent comfort when their lips had plenty of room to get reacquainted with each other?

What an absolutely delicious thing to do while you waited for your math class, science class, history class, or English class to start. To have the hottest boy in school in the closet with you. To have the hottest boy in school rediscover the taste of the Fruit Loops you had for breakfast with his tongue while his hands smoothed out the wrinkles of your uniform in the softest whisper of a touch. It was a wonderful way to kill that annoying gap in time before you had to go through more hell called high school.

Naruto tilted his head back enough so Sasuke could get to a rather sensitive part of the skin and tease it with light flicks of his tongue. The tongue turned into playful lips that trailed a path down the slender column to the strap of the black tank top Naruto wore under his uniform jacket. The jacket had been unbuttoned long ago, before they even stumbled into the janitor's closet, and with a simple shrug of the shoulders Naruto had the jacket slide down his back enough for Sasuke to be able to touch said shoulders with his lips. For some reason Sasuke had an obsession with kissing every part of Naruto's body, an obsession Naruto didn't mind of course, but it always drove him nuts and it was just cruel to do something like that in the stuffy closet. Because Naruto was loud, loud in everything he did. He was loud when he talked, loud when he ate, and especially loud when Sasuke decided to trail his fingers underneath his shirt and over his skin.

"Sa-mmph!" But Sasuke knew that Naruto was loud and always had a solution to the noise problem whenever they were at risk of being heard. Granted this hallway was rarely walked down there was always the chance that once, just once, someone could walk down it besides the janitor who at the moment was somewhere in the school praying no one made a mess he had to clean up. Covering his mouth with one of his hands and making sure all noise could be muffled Sasuke went back to kissing the shoulder, the neck, while somehow managing to slip one of his legs in between Naruto's.

He could feel the cry of pleasure melt into his hand.

Naruto always, always became complete mush whenever Sasuke got this close to him. It was an interesting fact that was learned during that very first kiss they shared. Two years, two years ago had found them as freshman in high school together as friends with some rivalry still mixed in. That one night, that one night that had Sasuke come over to do homework with Naruto, some assignment that was long forgotten in the corridors of memory. Something in the air maybe had changed the conversation to girls, then kissing. A quiet admission of maybe being curious about boys, just maybe. A faint memory of being children together as friends, mostly rivals but deep down always friends, and that one day Sasuke had come to school upset over something at home. Naruto had cheered him up in his own unique Uzumaki Naruto way... and had actually kissed him. A cute childhood kiss on the cheek to, as a five-year-old Naruto had said, c_heer you up if you're sad when you go back home_. For some reason that memory had come up in the conversation and somehow, to this day neither knew how, Naruto ended up kissing Sasuke on his cheek just like he did when they were kids that day. And Naruto's face, his lips, were so close... too close...

It certainly wasn't like their kisses were now. After two years of learning how to press your lips together. How long to keep your lips pressed together. How you can ask for that deeper kiss named after the French without voicing it out and how good it could feel to massage your tongue with someone else's their kisses were much better. But that first one... that first one was full of nervous shakings and blushes. Full of warring feels of it feeling nice and wanting it to feel nicer but not knowing **how **to accomplish that. Of remembering what was said in school about kissing or seen on T.V. and wondering if that was how you did it or not, or if they were doing it right at all. Finally realizing that they didn't care and the best advice was to just go with it.

That advice still worked today.

Ninety nine point nine percent of the time they would just go with it. Sure they'd lie in bed together with a set destination of a pleasurable paradise but getting there was always improvised. Kissing though... kissing was the number one necessity of the trip. Be it in the bed, against the door, behind the school building while no one was looking, on the school roof during lunch or behind that tree near the front entrance. Or like now, in the janitor's closet, though now Sasuke was enjoying seeing Naruto gasp out his name behind his hand when he felt Sasuke's leg move between his.

It was an absolutely horrid thing to do. Sasuke knew damn well that in a few seconds they'd have to stop and leave for class and many, many times Naruto was telling himself to yell at Sasuke to stop. Yet he always ended up forgetting how to yell unless if it involved something along the lines of yes, Sasuke, touch me more! So he'd end up allowing that knee in between his legs to turn into a hand that rubbed against his pants, and he'd allow Sasuke to set his mouth free for only a moment before he captured it again in a deep kiss, blocking the sounds with lips.

And then, seconds later, they'd have to stop.

Naruto always lost track of time, always had to stare at his watch to make sure but Sasuke was one of those people with a clock in their head. And he was always right, it was always time to stop and go through class with their bodies humming for more. Oh well, Naruto always tortured Sasuke in the next class by licking at his finger very, very slowly before he turned the page of his textbook. Or by spreading his legs far apart underneath his desk. Just like Gai-sensei's class, Sasuke had that seat that allowed him to watch Naruto perfectly so there were a number of times he'd get scolded for not paying attention to the teacher.

Sasuke opened the door to the janitor's closet and stepped outside of it, straightening himself out while Naruto stepped out and did the same. A dark chuckle left Sasuke's lips when Naruto ended up stumbling out, a well deserved cocky grin on his face.

"Shove it." Naruto muttered, his voice choking in the waves of the lust he still felt. Damn how he wished it was lunchtime, the two of them would bring their food up to the roof and never really touch it as much as they touched each other. Sasuke only chuckled again and watched Naruto walk to his locker, still muttering about evil boyfriends and how could Sasuke treat him like that on his birthday for god's sakes! Glancing at his watch Naruto saw that indeed he did have just enough time to grab his books and go to class. Sasuke would meet him there as always since his locker had that nice location of being by the classroom.

What class was next anyway? Oh yeah, Kakashi-sensei. He always had this knowing look on his face when Naruto stepped through the door. Then again since Kakashi always made sure he had good-morning-I-have-to-go-to-work-and-sex-wakes-me-up-better-than-coffee sex with Iruka ten times out of ten he could feel that sexual radiation coming from Naruto. Grabbing the required books out of his locker Naruto slammed it shut and turned to leave.

Then stopped dead in his tracks when he almost plowed into pale, sand colored flesh engulfed in the dark school colors of the uniform he wore. Gaara was his name, right? The new kid they met in Gai-sensei's class. The one with... those eyes that... for some reason always made Naruto feel funny.

"Hello." Don't look into his eyes. Look at anything but the eyes. Do not, repeat, do **not **look into those eyes wrapped around in black mascara. Look at how messy and red that hair is, look at how he has the uniform jacket thrown over his shoulder with his books tucked under one of his arms. And most importantly... "We didn't get a chance to talk during class, because it was class, but I'm Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. It's really nice to meet you." ... ramble on and on about random stuff. That way, time would fly by and then the required take off to get to class in time speech would begin.

"Gaara." Quick and to the point. Right. What else could he possibly ramble about?

"So... where are you from? Do you like the school so far? Are you finding everything o.k.?" Gaara was quiet the entire time, listening to Naruto but not finding a reason to respond to his questions. Honestly he hated the questions like this and most of the time imagined the person asking them suffering a horrible death filled with the most imaginative things, like crashing elevators or zoo animals running wild down the city streets. But... this time... he'd allow it.

For this boy he'd allow it.

"You know a lot of the classes around here are really hard to find. When I first came here I was really confused. I got lost many times and I think I might've sat in the wrong classroom my first day. And..."

"... Naruto." Rambling never really worked well when it was cut off, and cut off with a voice that demanded that you completely kill any other word you even thought about saying. The desired effect was met and Naruto had indeed stopped talking but he still wasn't looking at Gaara.

_Look at me._

Their eyes met in that moment, Naruto couldn't really explain it. It was one of those situations that if you asked him ten years from now why he looked up into those eyes when he was trying his hardest not to he'd still reply with an I don't know. He didn't know why he looked. And now he didn't know why he couldn't move. And more importantly he didn't know... why he suddenly didn't want to move.

_Kyubi stubbornly shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't look at him, not now. Not when he was going to point his finger at her and laugh in her face for letting her secret slip out._

_That she loved him._

"But..."

"... how could she not love him?" Gaara finished the thought and took Naruto by surprise. He... knew the story too? And he knew the exact part he was thinking about? What was going on with this Gaara kid?

"H-he had been... her best friend..." _... for as far back as she could remember. Shukaku, the one everyone was terrified of for no real reason. All the rumors about him, silly tales of people's bodies being buried in the sand of his backyard. Rumors of him going out to the sandiest areas of the land and killing anyone who dared to step on it. Shukaku was dangerous, yes, but just like everyone else all he wanted was a friend. And just like everyone else he was dangerous when he wanted to be and nine times out of ten he had good reason. _

_Granted he thought of following those rumors many times but fortunately Kyubi came into his life to calm that part of him down._

_Kyubi who shared an equal amount of rumors like having people sacrifice foxes to her since she was a fox herself. She still wondered where the hell that rumor came from, why would she want her own kind sacrificed? But now she had someone to laugh with about those rumors, someone she had fallen in love with quite sometime ago but never said anything. How could she tell him? He'd pull at her ear and call her a silly fox for harboring such feelings. As much as she dreamed about him saying the words back he never would, not to her._

"He could do so much better than me..." Naruto didn't notice that he had said _me _instead of _her_.

But Gaara noticed. He noticed and leaned closer, taking a chance. "Kyubi." And Naruto's eyes shown in recognition for that name as if he had been called that all his life.

Kyubi. As if Naruto didn't even exist. Who was Naruto? A boy... a boy who had some friends... a family... someone he loved.

Sasuke.

But with Gaara being so close and with _Kyubi _ringing through his head Sasuke... Sasuke seemed so far away. But Gaara was right here.

"Shu... kaku..." And Gaara's eyes shown in the same recognition. But Gaara understood why and Naruto didn't. Deep in those sky blue eyes Gaara could see a bit of confusion cloud over. Why do I know these names? I know they're in the story but... why am I letting myself be called Kyubi? And why did I just call him Shukaku? Why am I standing there and watching him lean closer to me?

Gaara would answer those questions later.

"Kyubi." _Those eyes had pulled her in and_ _held her hostage. But she didn't want to escape. This creature in front of her, her best friend for... gods however long it was. She remembered old swings and beautiful gardens, running around with him and playing, enjoying the only friend she had ever had. But now... _"Naruto." How could this person make him think this way? Feel this way? His heartbeat became loud enough to make him deaf as Gaara leaned in closer. Was this really about to happen? Was he really...

"... about to... kiss..."

"... you?" Gaara's forehead rested comfortably against Naruto's, their lips so close that they were sharing the same air around them. "Yes. I'm about to kiss you. And when I do..."

"... I won't be able... to stop..." The books in Naruto's hands clattered down to the ground and his hands found a resting place on Gaara's shirt, gripping onto it and wrinkling it. Sliding his eyes shut he allowed his lips to move even closer, brushing against Gaara's. Why? Why was he doing this? Why was he about to kiss this boy? Why was he shivering when he felt Gaara's lips whisper back against his own? Sasuke should've been the only one to cause these kinds of reactions but... something inside of him was screaming for this kiss, this kiss that had been denied for so long, this much deserved moment between the two of them.

Between Gaara and Naruto... between Shukaku... and Kyubi...

"Naruto!" _Blood colored eyes narrowed. Narrowed and watched as that... that... **monster **stole Kyubi's first kiss. Watched Kyubi's eyes slide shut, the most beautiful of blushes crossing her cheeks as she slowly went through the steps of returning Shukaku's kiss. Slow, inexperienced, hesitant, nervous, piercing sharingan turned eyes watched the entire event with clenched fists and low growls of breaths. _

_How dare he. How dare that filthy monster kiss someone as enchanting as Kyubi. How. Dare. He. Didn't he know that Kyubi belonged to her? From the moment their eyes first met Kyubi became hers. It didn't matter if Kyubi didn't know that, for she would learn in time, but what did matter was that Shukaku, that vile disgusting creature, had the nerve to suddenly wrap his arms around Kyubi's waist and coax her more and more into the kiss. Slow, gaining experience, no longer hesitant or nervous. Becoming more relaxed, beginning to fall harder into it, beginning to deepen it. _

_Uchiha-san saw it all. Saw Kyubi part her lips for Shukaku and tremble against him. Heard him moan lowly inside of her mouth. If possible Uchiha-san's eyes grew darker, redder, and her fists were clenched so hard that her knuckles were turning white. _

_"Filthy beast." _Sasuke locked eyes with Gaara in a violent clash. Naruto stood off to the side watching the both of them, wanting to say a million things but not knowing how to use his voice. Apparently Sasuke and Gaara didn't know they had voices either because they just stood there, glaring at each other with enough force to break through the thickest of walls. Maybe it was because Naruto wasn't listening, but Sasuke and Gaara were saying plenty to each other. Their eyes spoke volumes, powerful words that would make the average man crumble to the ground. Possessiveness, anger, and a mix of any type of emotion of the sort radiated between the two boys which, when Naruto picked up on it finally, surprised him. Why was Sasuke just mad at Gaara? Naruto didn't exactly push the other boy away. Why was Gaara mad at Sasuke? Surely he understood why a boyfriend would be pissed to see another guy kissing his significant other.

But that was the problem right there, wasn't it? Gaara was mad for the same reason Sasuke was. Seeing a loved one with someone else... they were both pissed off over that. The question was... which one of them was right? Which one of them had the right to be angry while the other one didn't deserve the right at all?

"Sasuke..." _Shukaku_. Naruto shut his eyes and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Sa-Sasuke..." _Shukaku! _Stop it! Why? Why! Why couldn't he get that damn name out of his head now? What the hell did Gaara do to him?

Did he do anything to him at all?

Naruto quickly picked up his books from the ground and took off for class, leaving Sasuke and Gaara behind. What the hell could he say to either of them? How could he tell Sasuke he was sorry when _Shukaku_, Gaara, was invading his thoughts? How could he tell Gaara to back off when he didn't want him to but wanted him to?

What in the world was going on?

* * *

"Sounds like you've got an admirer." Naruto looked up and watched Shikamaru take another bite out of the apple he was eating. For once the bored look was gone, replaced with an almost thoughtful expression. "How interesting."

"Interesting? Interesting! I'm with Sasuke, idiot, I can't have an admirer!" Even in the crowded mess of a lunchroom it was possible to hear Naruto screaming. It was as if the volume of the hungry teenage atmosphere had been turned down so Naruto could be heard. The boy had the ability to be that loud if he wanted to, or needed to be.

"Admirer?" Hinata took a seat next to Naruto and set her lunch tray down in front of her. After a moment she moved it so it was resting in between both her and Naruto and smiled when he began to eat the French fries on her plate. Hinata never ate everything the lunch lady plopped onto her plate so the logical solution was to make Naruto happy and share. "You have an admirer?"

"Shikamaru says I do."

"What? You do. You said this guy was about to kiss you, right?" Shikamaru took another bite from his apple, quickly losing interest in the conversation. It was so easy to see where it was going. Naruto would deny it some more, then even more, and then even more.

"What guy?" Ino took a seat on top of the table by Shikamaru, making a face at his lunch of just an apple and a bottle of orange juice. Shrugging her shoulders she grabbed the bottle and took a healthy gulp of the cold juice, smacking her lips once she was done. "Shika-chan, you gotta start eating more than this."

"It's too troublesome to bring or buy a huge lunch." He didn't seem to mind very much that the girl had just drank about a fourth of his juice. "And the guy is that new kid, Gaara."

"Gaara?" Naruto hated it when the group decided to come together around a conversation he didn't really want to talk about anymore. Now Lee was there with his own specially made lunch, Sakura sitting next to him and blushing when Lee began to offer her the food he had brought with him. Sakura thanked him quietly before going back to the question at hand. "Gaara likes you?"

"Um... yeah, I guess." Naruto looked around the lunchroom, waiting to see if anyone else would show up, specifically Sasuke. He really, **really**, didn't want to be talking about this when Sasuke showed up. The coast looked clear enough, Kiba would be outside eating with his puppy, Shino would be outside with him because he liked eating outside, and Chouji was still in line getting food. Neji rarely ate with them, if at all, and Ten-Ten had already popped up into the group after Sakura asked her question.

"You guess?" Ino had a curious look on her face. "Well what makes you guess he likes you?"

"Gaara told him he was going to kiss him, and then they kissed." Shikamaru waited for the denial to come in.

"We did NOT kiss!" There it was. "Our lips kinda just... brushed together..."

"Oooooh, wow! Was it good?"

"Ino!" Sakura gave her a firm frown. "What kind of question was that?"

"A question you wanted to ask because now you wanna know if Sasuke is available since this new boy has come in."

"Th-that's not true! Hey, you were thinking the same thing!" The two girls glared at each other, the makings of yet another Ino and Sakura argument brewing.

"Sasuke... saw us..." Everyone drew their attention towards Naruto and at that point even Shikamaru looked interested. Naruto hadn't told him that yet. "Sasuke... saw us and stopped us..." Naruto had the most heartbroken look on his face. A mix between guilt and sadness. Sakura frowned sadly along with Ino and everyone else. Everyone at the table knew that those "rumors" about the two of them were true. No one had a problem with it, of course, the whole Sakura and Ino fighting over Sasuke thing was more of a routine these days instead of serious. Sure both girls had liked Sasuke, every girl liked Sasuke, but there was a world of difference between liking a crush and loving the boy like Naruto did. They had both silently given up on Sasuke a while ago, but that didn't mean that would stop them from fighting over silly things like sitting next to him in class. Sasuke was taken, but he was still hot.

"What happened after that?" Hinata asked, not really wanting to know the answer if it would upset Naruto more but it seemed like he needed to talk about it. Surprisingly the sad look on Naruto's face melted away into a confused one.

"That's the strange part. You see... Sasuke didn't get mad at me. He got mad at Gaara. And Gaara got mad at him."

"That's not strange." Lee decided to participate in the conversation now. "Of course he'd get mad at Gaara, Gaara kissed you."

"Gaara... wasn't the only one. I... I kinda... I mean... I was part of it too..." Naruto lowered his head so he wouldn't have to look at anyone at the table. He had been part of it too. He didn't know why he wanted to be all the sudden but he was. It had all happened so fast, and _Shukaku _and _Kyubi_ had come up into the situation out of thin air. It didn't make sense while at the same time it made perfect sense. And Sasuke had disappeared. Everything else disappeared but Gaara.

"So you wanted him to kiss you?" Ten-Ten asked.

"Yes. No. I don't know! I... I don't know. It was weird, it just... it just felt like... I **had **to do it, you know? Like... it made sense at the moment to just kiss him, like I was suppose to." Naruto buried his head into his hands, trying to clear his thoughts but not able to. What was he supposed to tell them? By the way, the story I read all the time, I have the feeling that I'm a part of it with Gaara? It didn't make sense to him so how would it make sense to them?

"What about Sasuke?" Sakura spoke up now, a concerned look on her face but not just for Sasuke, but for Naruto too. That was the key question wasn't it? What about Sasuke? Naruto certainly wouldn't leave him for this new guy he barely even knew, would he? Sakura and everyone else knew that Sasuke and Naruto were attached to the hip so why would Naruto leave? Sakura wasn't asking because she hoped Naruto would leave, she was asking because she prayed that he didn't. She was silently reminding him that Sasuke was the important part in his life and he was never, ever supposed to forget that.

"I mean, Gaara is cute and all..."

"It's not that, Ino." Naruto removed his hands from his face and just closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I don't know why but..." They were gonna give him hell for this but, "I feel like... I know him. And it's not like some kind of love at first sight destiny type crap, but I really **really **feel like I know him. Like I've met him before."

"Maybe you have." Naruto looked up at Shikamaru in surprise. What did he just say? "I mean, maybe you did meet him before, before you knew all of us, knew Sasuke." Shikamaru sounded deadly serious when he spoke. It was time to take him seriously, because when Shikamaru got like this he left no room for arguments. "I mean, you had a life before us right? Before Iruka-sensei adopted you? Before you met us in school and before you met Sasuke? You had a life before that, right?"

"Yeah, but... don't you think I would've remembered him?"

"Do you remember your parents?" Naruto winced as if he had been slapped hard across the face. Ino wanted to stop Shikamaru from saying anymore but he was in that mode of don't you dare stop me from talking because I'm making a point. "Do you remember your family? Do you remember anything before Iruka-sensei, anything at all that isn't fuzzy? That isn't anything that someone else told you about?" Naruto shook his head and looked away. He really didn't want to talk about this anymore. He always hated talking about that time before Iruka, before a new family. However, it was justifying that maybe, just maybe he did know Gaara. But Shikamaru wasn't going far back enough. He felt like he knew Gaara from that story, as _Shukaku_, not as Gaara. No one knew that of course but... Naruto could apply Shikamaru's point to the real one.

Maybe he did know Gaara. Maybe _Shukaku _was real and more than just a story. But why didn't he remember? Was it because he couldn't remember anything before Iruka adopted him, or was it simply because he just couldn't remember at all. It was certainly an idea that sounded on the level of unbelievable but at the same time... what other explanation was there?

"So are you saying that Gaara is some kid Naruto use to know before us? Before Sasuke?" It was an intriguing idea, Lee had to admit.

"Maybe." Shikamaru shrugged a bit. "He's the one who said that he felt like he knew him. That's just one solution I came up with. I came up with about seven more but that one made the most sense. He just knows him from somewhere else and doesn't remember it that's all."

"You came up with seven more?" Ino rolled her eyes. "You're such a dork sometimes." Shikamaru just sighed and muttered something along the lines of _oi, women_. Everyone just laughed while Ino tugged on Shikamaru's ear, yelling at him to take that statement back. After a moment Sakura joined her friend and thwapped Shikamaru's head, trying to get him to take back his comment as well. Naruto just smiled and watched the group, watched the students at the other lunch tables give them funny looks but none of them gave a damn since they were having fun together and that's all that really mattered. He was about to make a comment to join in on the growing conversation from Shikamaru's one comment but stopped, his breath catching in his throat when he saw Gaara leaning against the lunch room door, watching him.

"Naruto-kun? What is it?" Hinata whispered to him when she noticed that the blond seemed to be completely frozen now.

"Gaa... ra..." Hinata looked over and her eyes widened a bit when she saw the boy watching them, watching Naruto, watching him interact with his friends. But there was something weird this time. For some reason there was a small look of pain on his face, as if he had a headache that didn't want to go away but he was trying to hide it, which only made it hurt more. Naruto's look of surprised melted away to a hint of concern.

"Do you think something is wrong with him?" It was obvious that Hinata noticed the look in Gaara's eyes. One by one the others started to turn to look at Gaara, but as each one did another stab of pain hit him to the point of him clutching onto his head tightly, tugging on his hair.

It was as if seeing Naruto with friends was causing him pain. _They never had anyone, no one but each other. The concept of friends was a foreign thing, like a forest animal trying to get use to men tearing down the trees and grass._

"Hey. Kid, are you o.k.?" One of the students near Gaara got up to check on him, his friends behind him whispering and murmuring about the new boy and this random attack he suddenly had. Nervousness about a new school perhaps? Gaara didn't look up at the boy, still clutching onto his hair, his body shaking. _"It's new to you because you have no friends." _Gaara's eyes widened. _"A monster like you could never have a friend, and most importantly, you could never have anyone love you." Uchiha's words were poison to Shukaku's ears but at the same time... _"Hey, I asked if you were o.k." _... they were all true._

"Get away from me!" And everyone watched in surprise and a bit of fear as Gaara shoved the boy back so hard that he flew back against the table he had been sitting at. Right into a plate of mashed potatoes covered in the gravy only a high school cafeteria could have, and crispy fried chicken that tasted like the microwave kind that a kid would eat for a T.V. dinner. The boy didn't look back up at Gaara, much too scared to, and instead he let his friends come to his side and check on him. Gaara ignored them all and looked over at Naruto who was staring back at him, his eyes looking like they were debating on running away or going up to Gaara to see why he had done what he did.

Naruto never got the chance to do either, because Gaara simply turned and left the lunchroom.

_"You have Kyubi but for how long? She'll end up leaving to find better than you." _Gaara managed to get to the boy's bathroom and into one of the stalls before he finally collapsed down to the ground, holding his head again and sweating, his skin turning pale. She'll end up leaving... Naruto had Sasuke... Naruto had friends... Naruto had... _"... found better than you." _

Gaara's eyes snapped open but they were no longer green, instead they were the color of the waves of sand you'd find on a beach. And all around him sand rose higher and higher, up to the ceiling, completely enclosing over the bathroom stall and drowning the tissue and toilet water.

And then he screamed.

It took about a minute for a crowd to appear. Sasuke was the first to get to the door since he was closest to the bathroom when Gaara screamed, Kakashi, Iruka, and a whole list of teachers and even the principal in the hallway to try and see what had happened. Students were whispering to each other when they finally got to the scene, just in time to see Sasuke open the door.

And just in time to see mountains of sand pour out of the bathroom.

Sasuke jumped back in surprise and watched the sand leak out until the bathroom was visible, or rather, what was left of it. Every mirror was cracked, every stall wall was shattered, the sinks and toilets were full of sand and not water. There was no sign of anyone being left in the bathroom or ever being in the bathroom, just sand.

"How the..." Sasuke reached forward to touch the sand but blinked in surprise when Kakashi grabbed his hand.

"Don't touch it." Kakashi's voice left no room for argument. Sasuke simply nodded and watched the sand, his eyes widening when he watched it enclose around a piece of glass from the broken mirrors... and completely destroy it.

Would it have done the same... to his hand? And how did Kakashi know?

"What the hell is going on?" Sasuke whispered, watching the sand wrap around another piece of glass and break it apart. Him and the students were so shocked at the sight of the sand that seemed to be alive that they failed to see...

... the knowing looks on all the teacher's faces.

TBC

* * *

Author's Comments: Yay! It's all beginning to come together! Um... sort of. Gaara snapped, yay that was fun. Um... next chapter um... actually I have no idea. It's been so long since I've worked on this fic thanks to midterms and stuff that I forgot how exactly I was going to have things happen. Oh well, um, the next chapter something will happen! Yay!


	4. Chapter Three

_Storybook Romance_

By: Chibi

_You hold the answers deep within your own mind.  
Consciously, you've forgotten it.  
That's the way the human mind works.  
Whenever something is too unpleasant, too shameful for us to entertain, we reject it.  
We erase it from our memories.  
But the answer is always there. _  
-Opening to **_Wash it all Away _**by **_Evanescence_**

_**Chapter Three**_

Naruto wasn't surprised when he didn't see Sasuke waiting for him after school was over. The boy had every right to be mad at him after what happened. He foolishly tried looking for his boyfriend but he was nowhere in sight, most likely having gone back to his own house as soon as the last bell rang. He was angry, and he had every right to be angry.

Didn't he?

"Just call him when you get home." Shikamaru said as him and Naruto walked home together. After searching the school for about fifteen minutes Shikamaru had finally convinced Naruto to give up, go home, and call his boyfriend to try and straighten things out. "He needs some time to himself I bet. That's all."

"Yeah." Still, if there was anything Naruto hated it was to hurt Sasuke. And he just knew that's what he did today. And running away like he did couldn't have helped matters at all. He didn't even try to explain what was going on, didn't even try to give some lame excuse of _oh, it was nothing really_, didn't even try to comfort his boyfriend in any way. At the same time... what was he supposed to do? He hated to lie to Sasuke, and telling him something like _it was nothing _would be a lie. Telling him that he didn't mean for it to happen... that was only partly the truth. He didn't mean to hurt Sasuke, yes that was true, but... there was something that wanted that moment between him and Gaara to happen so **badly!**

"Naruto?"

"Hm?" Naruto looked up at Shikamaru and shook his head a bit, smiling. "Sorry, I was just thinking that's all."

"Listen... I wouldn't worry about this whole thing too much. I mean, you know Sasuke loves you. He's not going to leave you."

Naruto thought about that for a moment. "But... if you saw the person you love kiss someone else..."

"I would never see something like that." Naruto gave Shikamaru a questioning look. "Because relationships are too troublesome to begin with."

Naruto blinked, then blinked again, then had to hold onto his sides from laughing so hard. Shikamaru just stared at his friend, wondering exactly why he was suddenly rolling over in laughter.

"N-nothing... really... it... it's just..." Naruto exploded into another fit of laughter and Shikamaru just shook his head, a tiny smile on his face that Naruto couldn't see since he was laughing so much.

Shikamaru would never change. At least during this entire mess he was going through something would stay the same.

* * *

Naruto did the customary best friend thing and invited Shikamaru inside. It was the time of day when Iruka would be fixing dinner since he was the type to come straight home after the school day was over. However, when the two boys walked into the house and to the kitchen for snacks they did not expect to see Iruka cooking while Kakashi sat at the table. Kakashi sitting at the table was a normal sight since the man practically lived there. At the same time it wasn't normal. When Kakashi did go home with Iruka right after school, instead of being kept after by Gai-sensei and his random challenges, Iruka sure as hell wasn't cooking. 

But that wasn't the particular odd thing they saw.

What was odd was seeing Iruka at the stove cooking, Kakashi sitting at the table...

... and Gaara sitting across from him, the two of them talking in hushed tones as if they weren't supposed to be heard.

Now Naruto was the type to expect to walk into anything. Several times he had walked inside and heard his guardian and Kakashi-sensei going at it like the bold roommate you had that could sleep with his partner under the covers while you tried to study. Other times he walked inside to a deceivingly empty house because Sasuke would be upstairs lying in his bed with the most predatory look on his face.

But walking into his house to see the boy he had been trying to avoid while at the same time trying to make out with in front of his boyfriend... that was a bit too much to take.

"Um... what's going on?" Naruto managed to get the sentence out but the shocked look still wouldn't leave his face. The conversation Kakashi and Gaara were having stopped and they both turned to look at Naruto. Shikamaru frowned a bit from where he stood. He had noticed that a split second before they turned to look at Naruto they both had looks along the lines of being caught in the act, and Gaara had actually given Kakashi a... knowing look? Something like _he was bound to find out _while Kakashi responded with a look that said _not yet, wait for a little longer_.

What in the world was going on? Who was this kid?

Gaara turned his attention over to Shikamaru, simply watching him. For a moment Shikamaru felt something inside of him say run, run away from this boy, but instead he just continued to stand next to Naruto. There was something about this Gaara kid, something strange and something that felt extremely dangerous. Ever since the incident in the lunchroom when he shoved that boy into the table Shikamaru had this feeling that Gaara wasn't exactly the type of person you hung around, because the moment you pissed him off it would all be over for you.

Not to mention what happened **after **that.

There had been lots of commotion in the hallway a few minutes after that, and when everyone in the lunchroom managed to get out they had all seen rivers of sand leaking out of one of the bathrooms. Maybe no one else saw it, maybe it was because Shikamaru was short and had enough intelligence to duck down to look under the taller people's legs, but what his eyes saw that sand do was something that sand just shouldn't be able to do! He had seen the sand wrap, actually **wrap **around a piece of glass and break it apart. The sand **moved**, moved all by itself, and squeezed so hard that the glass **broke**! Shikamaru had seen Sasuke right by the sand standing with Kakashi who had warned him to stay away from it just before the sand killed that piece of glass.

It was as if that sand had been alive.

"He wanted to visit you, Naruto." Iruka said from the stove. Shikamaru looked up at the man and frowned a bit more. Something wasn't right. From the times Shikamaru came over with Naruto after school he knew that Iruka usually greeted the boy with a smile or something. The man hadn't even turned around, kept his back turned to them as if he didn't want to look at them for some reason.

Why?

Did it have something to do with what Kakashi and Gaara were talking about before? And what were they talking about? Maybe it was that weird event with the sand in school, because that happened when Gaara left the lunchroom. Shikamaru wasn't one to assume things, especially since what he was thinking made no sense at all.

Thinking that Gaara... caused the sand to erupt in the bathroom. And for some strange reason Kakashi, maybe even Iruka too... knew that.

That would explain Kakashi getting Sasuke away from the sand. That would explain how Gaara found out where Naruto lived, because they had just met today so how else could he know? That would explain Kakashi and Gaara talking just now, because what else would they have to talk about? So Gaara caused the sand? That was ridiculous, impossible, made no kind of sense whatsoever...

... then again, sand coming out of a bathroom and destroying everything in its path made no sense either.

"Um… but… I should do homework or…"

"… just for a few minutes, Naruto." Shikamaru looked over at Kakashi in a bit of surprise. For a second, it sounded like the man was pushing for these two to talk. Kind of like a king presenting a possible suitor whom he really, really liked onto his sweet little princess.

"I… guess…" Naruto looked over at Shikamaru. "You don't mind the extra visitor, do you?" Before Shikamaru could respond Gaara looked up at him. Looked up at him and just… looked. Shikamaru felt something inside of him freeze-up, a drop of fear sliding down the back of his neck. From the look Gaara was giving him he knew that it didn't matter if he minded his presence or not. It didn't matter, Gaara's eyes said, because soon you will suddenly have something come up and have to run home. Gaara's eyes told Shikamaru a message he heard loud and clear.

Leave. Us. Alone.

"You two can talk. I should go."

"What? But…" Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders, a bored look crossing his face.

"I'll come by later. It doesn't matter."

"Oi! I swear, you always act like nothing matters!" Naruto yelled to his friend. Shikamaru simply turned and headed to the door, hands shoved into his pockets. How wrong Naruto had it this time. Something mattered this time, definitely mattered, mattered to the point of Shikamaru having to leave before he got in Gaara's way.

And something told him to never, ever get in Gaara's way.

* * *

The safe place to have a conversation with someone you really didn't want to face was the living room. The living room was open. The living room had space. The living room was connected to the kitchen where Kakashi and Iruka were so they could come in if Naruto felt the need to scream for back up. 

So of course, with this being the difficult situation it was, and with Naruto having the curse of

bad luck that he did, the conversation took place in his bedroom. He tried to prevent it but Gaara had walked up the stairs before Naruto even had a chance to speak. Naruto sighed and cursed Lady Luck or whomever the hell it was who made people lucky and stepped into the room with Gaara.

"So… um… you wanted to talk to me?" Maybe he could play dumb and try to pretend that he had no idea what Gaara wanted to talk about. For a moment he had thought it worked, because Gaara just sat down on the bed, not saying anything and simply looking around the room. After a moment the silence became too much to take. "Look, about today..."

"So you do have it." Gaara murmured softly before he leaned down and picked up a book off of the floor. Not just a book, but **the **book. The book Naruto loved more than anything, the one he kept remembering for some strange reason every time he was near Gaara. For some reason when Gaara picked up the book Naruto's heart started racing, as if Gaara had discovered the secret of all secrets. "You read it everyday, don't you? Even if you've read it several times already."

"Um..." How in the world could he possibly know that! "... do you... read it too?" Gaara looked up at Naruto and just... smiled. Gaara smiled at him. Damnit, and Naruto's heart began speeding up in its race. Naruto might've just met him today but he knew that Gaara was definitely not the type to just smile like that unless if the occasion really called for it.

"I know the story." Not _I read the story _but _I **know** the story_.

"So... you must like reading-"

"I said that I know the story, Naruto." It was just one word, really. Instead of saying read he said know, but for some reason that one change in vocabulary meant everything. "Do you want to know how I know the story?"

"N-no..." He didn't want to know, really he didn't. It would just make things more confusing than they already were. He really didn't want to know how Gaara knew the story, well, to be more specific... he already knew how Gaara knew the story. But he really, really didn't want to say what he was thinking. No matter how ridiculous of an idea it sounded like...

"Yes you do." Gaara stood up and Naruto took a step back. At some point his heart decided to start speeding up even more and Naruto suddenly found it hard to breathe. "You want to know, you've always wanted to know."

"What?"

"Why do you like the story so much?" Gaara stepped towards Naruto. "What makes you read it over and over again?"

"I... I just like it..." Naruto moved away from Gaara. Something told him that staying close to the boy would be bad.

It might lead to them kis-

"And why do you always think of the story when you're around me?" Naruto's eyes widened. He didn't even notice that his back was now up against the wall. Why... why did he think of the story when him and Gaara were close? "Unless if you... have an idea already..."

"I..."

"... come on, Naruto." Gaara's voice dropped into a whisper. "Say it."

"I..." He didn't want to. He didn't want to but Gaara was so close, so close to him. It was making him dizzy, it was making his bedroom swirl around and mix together in a blend of colors. Colors that suddenly... "Wh-what's going... on..."

"Shh." Naruto's first instinct was to panic but he never got the chance. Soon he found himself in Gaara's arms, holding onto him as the colors begin to explode around them, explode and form into different shapes of various sizes. Shapes and sizes that weren't the normal objects of his bedroom. These objects belonged in a room that was much, much older. A room before the days of computers, of television, of radios, of telephones. A room decorated in plants instead of wallpaper, lit up with candles instead of lamps, made up of walls of stone instead of brick.

"Gaa... ra..." But when Naruto looked at Gaara the boy's eyes were closed and... there was a symbol... had Naruto not noticed it before? Had Gaara's hair been covering it? Maybe... it hadn't been there before? A symbol that was glowing, the color of blood, painfully etched into the boy's forehead.

Love.

Naruto tried to open his mouth to call Gaara again. "Shukaku?" But a different name came out. A different name wrapped around in a different voice, a female voice.

Naruto shoved Gaara away harshly and just like that they were both back in his bedroom. Gaara's eyes snapped open in a bit of surprise and he watched Naruto stare back at him with wide eyes, his body trembling from... whatever it was he just saw. Gaara wiped the surprise away and stepped towards Naruto again.

"Don't. Stay away from me." Naruto whispered, shaking his head. There was no way... there was no way any of this was true. It was a story, a book he read, that was all! Stories... stories like that weren't real!

"Why?" Gaara moved closer anyway. "Why do you want me to stay away?"

"None of it is true!"

"How can you say that after what you just saw, after what I just showed you!" Gaara grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him close, not willing to let the struggling blond go. "You know it's true, Naruto!"

"It's not! It's just a story!"

"Kyubi!" Naruto's eyes widened at the sound of that name, shown in a recognition he was really trying hard not to acknowledge. "Don't you remember?" Gaara almost looked desperate now. "I've been looking for you, Kyubi."

"That's not my name..." But Naruto's voice was choked full of lies. "That's not..."

"Say it. Say the other name you know. Say my name."

"No..."

"Say it, damnit!" Gaara gripped onto Naruto's arms tightly, shaking him just enough to show Naruto just how much he needed him to remember. It was hurting. Gods his head was hurting, pounding, didn't Naruto know how much he needed this! Sixteen years... "You know it's true, you know it! The marks you have, the book, everything. You know. Just say it!" The marks... those marks no one could explain. They all blamed it on the fire, that unexplainable fire, and left it at that. That unexplainable fire... Kyubi was a fire creature in the story, wasn't she?

Naruto closed his eyes and whispered, whispered so softly that it couldn't be heard. Gaara watched his lips move, watched and tried to read what he was saying but the headache was taking over with a type of pain that echoed around him and punched him in his gut. He had to stop it, had to stop the pain before his entire face crumbled apart into grains of sand that would liter the ground. It was obvious that Naruto didn't want to think about all of this, swallowed a healthy dose of denial, but... but... Gaara's head... his heart... it was all too much.

It was all too much!

Before Naruto had a chance to try and make any type of protest Gaara was kissing him, a desperate type of kiss that was as hard as it was fast, pleading with you to just kiss back, kiss back damnit, and not pull away. Please?

Naruto stood there with wide eyes, stood there in shock because no part of him was telling him to stop this kiss because for a moment he could feel all of that pain Gaara felt, he could feel it grab onto him in a death grip and scream at him. Just remember... at least... for a little while?

So, Naruto did.

Within a few seconds Naruto had managed to get Gaara to slow the kiss down. A few more seconds had that ear-splitting headache under control, under so much control that it was almost nonexistent. The headaches would never go away, Gaara knew that. They were headaches full of voices from the past, voices from what Naruto called a storybook, voices that would never shut up no matter how much he begged them to. But, but at least he could turn down the volume, turn it down enough to be able to hear Naruto moaning into the kiss and enough to hear both of their hearts beating.

Tap.

Naruto wrapped his arms around Gaara's shoulders, pulling him closer as the kiss became a bit deeper, coming dangerously close to becoming one of those kisses lovers shared.

Tap. Tap Tap Tap.

Naruto tried to open his eyes. That noise... he recognized that noise. But Gaara wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist and held him. Close. Protectively. Safely.

Lovingly.

Love...

**TAP! TAP TAP TAP!**

Sasuke. Sasuke was... outside his window. Sasuke...

"Don't." Gaara held Naruto closer and shook his head. Not now. Not now when his headache had finally calmed down. Not now when he was so close.

"I-I'm sorry..." What was he sorry for? Didn't he not want to remember these things, not want to believe these things? Why was he apologizing? "But... Sasuke..."

"Uchiha..." Gaara's voice changed. Transformed into the voice of a deadly creature, dare say a... monster. He wasn't talking, he was growling. And his eyes had narrowed into a look of absolute hatred and death. Naruto's eyes suddenly widened in realization. Of course, if all of this was true Gaara would despise that name.

"He... he just has the name, it's a coincidence..." Gods, Naruto thought, who the hell was he fooling? But gods he prayed that maybe, just maybe, he was right and it was a coincidence.

But that would require learning more about all of this...

**TAP! **"I... I have to talk to him. Please... please..." Please what? Please understand? Gaara would never understand. Please let me talk to him? Let him? Since when did he need permission?

**TAP! **It took a lot to do it but he did it. Gaara let Naruto go. He wasn't exactly sure why he let Naruto go when that was the last thing he ever wanted to do. Ultimately, the cure for those damn eternal headaches had finally presented itself and here he was, letting it go. It had to be the look in Naruto's eyes, that pleading look, that desperate look, just let me go, please? Or maybe it was the way Naruto's voice shook as he spoke, full on conflicting emotions that left him feeling confused, unsure. It had to be hard, Gaara thought to himself, to get all of this information about your life when you had been living it in a completely different way for the past sixteen years.

So it would take time, unfortunately, to finally make Naruto understand. Time always took forever in the important matters, but Gaara had already been waiting forever so adding more time to that was perfectly fine if it was what he had to do to get what he wanted, no, what he needed.

Both of them watched each other, not really knowing what to say. What was suppose to be said? Hadn't enough already been said? So Gaara walked past Naruto to head to the door and leave.

"Wait." Gaara stopped and turned to look back at Naruto who was watching him, looking uncertain for a moment before he gave the smallest of smiles, one barely noticeable unless if you were really looking for it. "I'll... see you later." It sounded so dumb in Naruto's head. See you later? Gaara had just shown him, just shared something very serious and powerful with him and he responded with _see you later_?

"Yeah. Tomorrow at school?" Gaara asked. Well, see you later must have had the desired effect if Gaara just responded to it.

"Yeah." Naruto's smile grew a bit more, not as hard to detect anymore. "Bye bye." And Naruto watched Gaara leave his room, closing the door behind him.

**TAP! TAP! **"All right, I'm coming!" It was surprising how they could drop back into old habits. Naruto threw the window open, frowning down at Sasuke who was tossing a couple of rocks up and down in the air, catching them. "Do you **always **have to throw those damn rocks!"

"Then you should answer faster." Sasuke smirked as he began climbing up the tree. Naruto couldn't help but smile as he watched Sasuke make his way up to him. Very surprising indeed. Despite the earlier events of the day here Sasuke was, climbing the tree as he always did, visiting Naruto as he always did. For a moment Naruto was actually able to forget everything involving storybooks.

"I shouldn't answer at all." Naruto crossed his arms at his chest as he watched Sasuke slip inside of his window. "That way, you can actually use a door."

"Doors are overrated, the window takes me right into your room." Damnit. Naruto broke into another smile. Wasn't it today when Sasuke saw him almost kissing another guy? Yet here he was making him smile instead of yelling like he thought his boyfriend would do. Sasuke never really hid the fact that he was a possessive bastard when it came to Naruto, so... why wasn't he blowing up?

Not that Naruto minded, Sasuke could stay just as calm as he wanted.

Still... Naruto did feel the need to... "I'm sorry."

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry... for today. With Gaara..."

"Oh." Sasuke chuckled a bit. "Must've forgot about it."

"What!" Who was this boy standing in front of him? It certainly wasn't the Uchiha Sasuke he knew. "I almost kissed another guy!"

"I'd like to think that he almost kissed you." Sasuke smirked. "That way, I can be pissed off at him and make out with you like I always do. Seems like a good plan to me."

Naruto sweatdropped. There was the Sasuke he knew.

* * *

Author's Comments: Whoo hoo! Another chapter over and done! Yes, I ended it right there. Why? Because the next chapter is a special chapter for my little Sasuke and Naruto, yes, a special chapter indeed. O.K. So I'm planning a lemon, there you got me. Of course we know it won't be on and blah blah blah we know this drill with my fics already. 

Fair warning for the next chapter, it's not just a lemon for these two. I'm not going to spoil anything, but my muses have been calling it the "mindfuck" chapter, let's see how well I do. Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed this part (even if it came super duper late, sorry!) yes, things are getting interesting as the story is revealed to Naruto more and more. And Shikamaru, what a good boy you are trying to figure out what's going on. You'll get it eventually, hang in there!

And Sasuke... you're way more understanding than I thought... what are you planning, Uchiha?

That's all for now, until next time!


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